The California Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Caltech)^[1] is a private, coeducational research university located in Pasadena, California, in the United States. Caltech maintains a strong emphasis on the natural sciences and engineering. Caltech also operates and manages the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), an autonomous-space-flight complex that oversees the design and operation of most of NASA's space-probes. Caltech is a small school, with only about 2100 students, but is ranked in the top 10 universities worldwide by metrics such as citation index, Nobel Prizes, and general university rankings (see below). A motto (from Italian) is a phrase or a short list of words meant formally to describe the general motivation or intention of an entity, social group, or organization. ... The date of establishment or date of founding of an institution is the date on which that institution chooses to claim as its starting point. ... A private university is a university that is run without the control of any government entity. ... An academic term is a division of an academic year, the time during which a school, college or university holds classes. ... A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution, with the stipulation that it be invested, and the principal remain intact. ... ISO 4217 Code USD User(s) the United States, the British Indian Ocean Territory,[1] the British Virgin Islands, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Panama, Caicos Islands, and the insular areas of the United States Inflation 2. ... One thousand million (1,000,000,000) is the natural number following 999,999,999 and preceding 1,000,000,001. ... University President is the title of the highest ranking officer within a university, within university systems that prefer that appellation over other variations such as Chancellor or rector. ... Jean-Lou Chameau (born 1953) is a civil engineer and provost for the Georgia Institute of Technology. ... A faculty is a division within a university. ... In some educational systems, undergraduate education is post-secondary education up to the level of a Bachelors degree. ... Degree ceremony at Cambridge. ... Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Largest metro area Greater Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... Crowded Shibuya, Tokyo shopping district An urban area is an area with an increased density of human-created structures in comparison to the areas surrounding it. ... School colors are the colors chosen by a school to represent it on uniforms and other items of identification. ... See also Orange (disambiguation) for other meanings of the word. ... Alternate meanings: White (disambiguation) White is a color (more accurately it contains all the colors of the spectrum and is sometimes described as an achromatic color—black is the absence of color) that has high brightness but zero hue. ... Millie, once mascot of the City of Brampton, is now the Brampton Arts Councils representative. ... The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA, often pronounced N-C-Double-A or N-C-Two-A ) is a voluntary association of about 1,200 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States. ... Division III (or DIII) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association of the United States. ... A website (alternatively, Web site or web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos and other digital assets that is hosted on one or several Web server(s), usually accessible via the Internet, cell phone or a LAN. A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML... A private university is a university that is run without the control of any government entity. ... Coeducation is the integrated education of males and females at the same school facilities. ... A university is an institution of higher education and of research, which grants academic degrees. ... Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. ... The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nations public space program. ... For the singer/songwriter, see Jon Peter Lewis. ...

History

Caltech began as a vocational school founded in Pasadena in 1891 by local businessman and politician Amos G. Throop. The school was known successively as Throop University, Throop Polytechnic Institute, and Throop College of Technology, before acquiring its current name in 1920. Caltech and the Polytechnic School, a private, college-preparatory academy across the street, were part of the same institution until 1907. A vocational school, providing vocational education and also as referred to as a trade school or career college, and school is operated for the express purpose of giving its students the skills needed to perform a certain job or jobs. ... Amos G. Throop Amos Gager Throop (born 1811, died 1894) was a businessman and politician in Chicago, Illinois during the 1840s and 1850s. ... Polytechnic Upper School Polytechnic School, often referred to as Poly, is a K-12 college preparatory private school in Pasadena, California. ...

Astronomer George Ellery Hale played an important role in Caltech's early development, helping to mold the school into a major scientific institution. Hale joined Throop's board of trustees after coming to Pasadena in 1907 as the first director of the Mount Wilson Observatory. At a time when scientific research in the United States was still in its infancy, Hale saw an opportunity to create in Pasadena an institution for serious research and education in engineering and the natural sciences. Hale succeeded in attracting private gifts of land and money that were used to build well-equipped, modern laboratory facilities. He then convinced two of the leading American scientists of the time, physical chemist Arthur Amos Noyes and experimental physicist Robert Andrews Millikan, to join Caltech's faculty and assist in establishing the college as a center for science and technology. George Ellery Hale, Sc. ... The Mount Wilson Observatory (MWO) is an astronomical observatory in Los Angeles County, California. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Physical chemistry is the application of physics to macroscopic, microscopic, atomic and particulate phenomena in chemical systems[1]within the field of chemistry traditionally using the principles, practices and concepts of thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mechanics and kinetics. ... Arthur Amos Noyes (1866 – 1936) was a U.S. chemist and educator. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Professor Robert Andrews Millikan (March 22, 1868 – December 19, 1953) was an American experimental physicist who won the 1923 Nobel Prize for his measurement of the charge on the electron and for his work on the photoelectric effect. ... A faculty is a division within a university. ... Part of a scientific laboratory at the University of Cologne. ... By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a mastery of technology sufficient to leave the surface of the Earth for the first time and explore space. ...

In 1917 Hale hired architect Bertram Goodhue to produce a master plan for the 22-acre (89,000 m²) campus. Goodhue conceived the overall layout of the campus and designed the physics building, Dabney Hall, and several other structures, in which he sought to be consistent with the local climate, the character of the school, and Hale's educational philosophy. Goodhue's designs for Caltech were also influenced by the traditional Spanish mission architecture of Southern California. Goodhue by Lee Lawrie, holding the Rockefeller Chapel, Chicago, Illinois Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue (April 28, 1869 - April 23, 1924) was a renowned American architect celebrated for his work in neo-gothic design. ... // Site selection and layout Each frontier station was forced to be self-supporting, as existing means of supply were inadequate to maintain a colony of any size. ...

Millikan Library, the tallest building on campus

Under the leadership of Hale, Noyes, and Millikan (and aided by the booming economy of Southern California), Caltech grew to national prominence in the 1920s. In 1923, Millikan was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics. In 1925, the school established a department of geology and hired William Bennett Munro, then chairman of the division of History, Government, and Economics at Harvard University, to create a division of humanities and social sciences at Caltech. In 1928, a division of biology was established under the leadership of Thomas Hunt Morgan, the most distinguished biologist in the United States at the time, and discoverer of the role of genes and the chromosome in heredity. In 1930, Kerckhoff marine laboratory was established in Corona del Mar under the care of Professor George MacGinitie. In 1926, a graduate school of aeronautics was created, which eventually attracted Theodore von Kármán. Kármán later helped create the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and played an integral part in establishing Caltech as one of the world's centers for rocket science. In 1928, construction of the Palomar Observatory began. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1224x1632, 399 KB) Summary Photographed and uploaded to en: as by. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1224x1632, 399 KB) Summary Photographed and uploaded to en: as by. ... For the urban complex straddling the United States-Mexico border, see Bajalta California. ... The Nobel Prizes (Swedish: ) are awarded for Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace, and Physiology or Medicine. ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... William Bennett Munro (1875-1957) was a Canadian social scientist and eugenicist. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and a member of the Ivy League. ... The humanities are those academic disciplines which study the human condition using methods that are largely analytic, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural and social sciences. ... The social sciences are a group of academic disciplines that study human aspects of the world. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Thomas Hunt Morgan (September 25, 1866 – December 4, 1945) was an American geneticist and embryologist. ... Figure 1: A representation of a condensed eukaryotic chromosome, as seen during cell division. ... The William G. Kerchoff Marine Laboratory is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology. ... Six F-16 Fighting Falcons with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team fly in delta formation in front of the Empire State Building. ... Theodore von Kármán (SzÅ‘llÅ‘skislaki Kármán Tódor) (May 11, 1881 – May 6, 1963) was an engineer and physicist who was active primarily in the fields of aeronautics during the seminal era in the 1940s and 1950s. ... A Soyuz rocket, at Baikonur launch pad. ... Palomar Observatory is a privately-owned observatory located in San Diego County, California, 90 miles (145 km) southeast of Mount Wilson Observatory, on Palomar Mountain. ...

Millikan served as "chairman of the executive council" (effectively Caltech's president) from 1921 to 1945, and his influence was such that the Institute was occasionally referred to as "Millikan's School." In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, Caltech was the home of Murray Gell-Mann and Richard Feynman, whose work was central to the establishment of the so-called "Standard Model" of particle physics. Feynman was also widely known outside the physics community as an exceptional teacher and colorful, unconventional character. Murray Gell-Mann (born September 15, 1929 in Manhattan, New York City, USA) is an American physicist who received the 1969 Nobel Prize in physics for his work on the theory of elementary particles. ... Richard Phillips Feynman (May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988; IPA: ) was an American physicist known for expanding the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, and particle theory. ... The Standard Model of Fundamental Particles and Interactions For the Standard Model in Cryptography, see Standard Model (cryptography). ...

Throop Hall, 1912.

In 1971 a magnitude-6.5 earthquake in San Fernando caused some damage to the Caltech campus. Engineers who evaluated the damage found that two historic buildings dating from the early days of the Institute — Throop Hall and the Goodhue-designed Culbertson Auditorium — had cracked. These were some of the first reinforced concrete buildings, and their plans did not contain enough details (such as how much reinforcing bar had been embedded in the concrete) to be sure they were safe, so the engineers recommended demolition. However, demolishing these historic structures required considerably more effort than would have been necessary had they been in real danger of collapse. A large wrecking ball was used to demolish Throop Hall, and smashing the concrete revealed massive amounts of rebar, far in excess of safety requirements. The rebar had to be cut up before the pieces could be hauled away, and the process took much longer than expected. Image File history File links CalTech-1912. ... Image File history File links CalTech-1912. ... San Fernando (Spanish for Saint Ferdinand) may refer to: Argentina San Fernando, Buenos Aires, city of the Greater Buenos Aires. ... Reinforced concrete at Sainte Jeanne dArc Church (Nice, France): architect Jacques Dror, 1926–1933 Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete in some countries, is concrete in which reinforcement bars (rebars) or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen a material that would otherwise be brittle. ... A tied rebar beam cage. ... A wrecking ball is a heavy steel ball, usually hung from a crane, that is used for demolishing large buildings. ...

Caltech remains, to this day, a small and highly focused university, with approximately 900 undergraduates, 1300 graduate students, and over 1000 faculty members (including 293 professors, 104 emeritus professors, 66 permanent research faculty, 87 visiting faculty, and over 500 postdoctoral scholars).^[2] A private institution, Caltech is governed by its Board of Trustees. In some educational systems, undergraduate education is post-secondary education up to the level of a Bachelors degree. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... A faculty is a division within a university. ... The meaning of the word professor (Latin: one who claims publicly to be an expert) varies. ... Emeritus (IPA pronunciation: or ) is an adjective that is used in the title of a retired professor, bishop or other professional. ... A postdoctoral appointment (colloquially, a post-doc) is a temporary research position held by a person who has completed his or her doctoral studies. ... Caltech Seal // Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology Caltech, also known as the California Institute of Technology, is governed by a board of trustees. ...

As of 2005, Caltech has 31 Nobel laureates to its name. This figure includes 17 alumni, 14 non-alumni professors, and 4 professors who were also alumni (Carl D. Anderson, Linus Pauling, William A. Fowler, and Edward B. Lewis). The number of awards is 32, because Pauling received prizes in both Chemistry and Peace. With fewer than 25,000 alumni in total, nearly one in a thousand have received the Nobel Prize — a ratio unmatched by any other university. Five faculty and alumni have received a Crafoord Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, while 47 have been awarded the U.S. National Medal of Science, and 10 have received the National Medal of Technology.^[3] Other distinguished researchers have been affiliated with Caltech as postdoctoral scholars (e.g., Barbara McClintock, James D. Watson, and Sheldon Glashow) or visiting professors (e.g., Albert Einstein and Edward Witten). The Nobel Prizes (Swedish: ) are awarded for Physics, Chemistry, Literature, Peace, and Physiology or Medicine. ... Carl David Anderson (3 September 1905 – 11 January 1991) was a U.S. experimental physicist. ... Linus Carl Pauling (February 28, 1901 – August 19, 1994) was an American quantum chemist and biochemist. ... There is another William Fowler who was a Scottish poet and uncle of William Drummond of Hawthornden William Alfred Willy Fowler (August 9, 1911 – March 14, 1995) was an American astrophysicist. ... Edward B. Lewis (May 20, 1918 – July 21, 2004) was an American geneticist, the winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Medicine. ... Chemistry - the study of interactions of chemical substances with one another and energy based on the structure of atoms, molecules and other kinds of aggregrates Chemistry (from Egyptian kÄ“me (chem), meaning earth[1]) is the science concerned with the composition, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the... A peace dove, widely known as a symbol for peace, featuring an olive branch in the doves beak. ... The Crafoord Prize was established in 1980 by Holger Crafoord, the inventor of the artificial kidney, and his wife Anna-Greta Crafoord. ... The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences or , founded in 1739 by King Frederick I, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden. ... National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science, also called the Presidential Medal of Science, is an honor given by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social... The National Medal of Technology is an honor granted by the President of the United States to inventors and innovators that have made significant contributions to the development of new and important technology. ... Barbara McClintock (June 16, 1902 – September 2, 1992) was a pioneering American scientist and one of the worlds most distinguished cytogeneticists. ... James Dewey Watson born April 6, 1928) is an American molecular biologist, best known as one of the co-discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule. ... Professor Sheldon Lee Glashow (born December 5, 1932) is an American physicist. ... “Einstein” redirects here. ... Edward Witten (born August 26, 1951) is an American mathematical physicist, Fields Medalist, and professor at the Institute for Advanced Study. ...

The movie comedy Real Genius and the CBS crime drama Numb3rs are loosely based on events at Caltech.^[4] Real Genius is a 1985 comedy film starring Val Kilmer. ... Numb3rs (Numbers; officially NUMB3RS) is an American television show produced by brothers Ridley Scott and Tony Scott. ...

The Spitzer Science Center (SSC), located on the Caltech campus, is the data analysis and community support center for NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The SSC, part of the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC), works in collaboration with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nations public space program. ... The Spitzer Space Telescope (formerly the Space Infrared Telescope Facility [SIRTF]) is an infrared space observatory, the fourth and final of NASAs Great Observatories. ... The Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) is the NASA science center, located on the campus of the California Institute of Technology, which is responsible for the data processing, analysis, and archiving for NASAs infrared astronomy and astrophysics missions. ... For the singer/songwriter, see Jon Peter Lewis. ...

Academics

Academics at Caltech emphasize quality over size, concentrating on a core of academic disciplines of very high calibre. Caltech is also known for interdisciplinary programs facilitated by the small physical size of the Caltech campus.

Conversely, as a small school, Caltech can not and does not offer the breadth of academic programs possible at larger universities. It does, however, offer co-operative programs with other schools, such as the Pasadena Art Center College of Design, Occidental College, and Scripps College. Photo of Art Center during the night. ... Occidental College, located in Los Angeles, California, is a small private coeducational liberal arts college. ... Scripps College is a liberal arts womens college in Claremont, California. ...

Caltech is ranked as the fifth-best "National University", tied with UPenn, behind #4 Stanford and ahead of #7 MIT, in the 2008 U.S. News & World Report survey^[5]; in 2007, the same ranking put it at #4, tied with MIT and Stanford^[6]. Caltech is ranked seventh in the world in the 2006 THES - QS World University Rankings^[7], and sixth in the world in the 2006 Academic Ranking of World Universities.^[8] The University of Pennsylvania (commonly referred to as Penn or UPenn, although the former is the preferred and recognized nickname of the University) is a private university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and a founding member of the Ivy League. ... Stanford may refer: Stanford University Places: Stanford, Kentucky Stanford, California, home of Stanford University Stanford Shopping Center Stanford, New York, town in Dutchess County. ... This table shows the latest national rankings of different departments and subjects at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from the US News and World Report, Princeton Review, and other well-known organizations. ... U.S. News & World Report is a weekly newsmagazine. ... This table shows the latest national rankings of different departments and subjects at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from the US News and World Report, Princeton Review, and other well-known organizations. ... Stanford may refer: Stanford University Places: Stanford, Kentucky Stanford, California, home of Stanford University Stanford Shopping Center Stanford, New York, town in Dutchess County. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with The Times Higher Education Supplement. ... // One of the well known rankings, THES - QS publishes an annual report about world rankings. ...

Academic departments

Caltech is divided into six divisions, each of which offer several degree programs, plus a number of interdisciplinary programs.

• Division of Biology
  • Biology
  • Computation and Neural Systems (jointly with Engineering)
• Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
  • Chemistry
  • Chemical Engineering
  • Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics
• Division of Engineering and Applied Science
  • Aeronautics (GALCIT)
  • Applied & Computational Mathematics
  • Applied Mechanics
  • Applied Physics
  • Bioengineering
  • Civil Engineering
  • Computation and Neural Systems (jointly with Biology)
  • Computer Science
  • Control and Dynamical Systems
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Materials Science
  • Mechanical Engineering
• Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences
  • Geology
  • Geobiology
  • Geochemistry
  • Geophysics
  • Planetary science
• Division of Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Humanities
    • History
    • English language
    • History and Philosophy of Science
  • Social Sciences
    • Economics
    • Business Economics and Management
    • Social science
• Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy
  • Physics
  • Mathematics
  • Astronomy

Not all of these are offered for both undergraduate and graduate students. This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Chemistry - the study of interactions of chemical substances with one another and energy based on the structure of atoms, molecules and other kinds of aggregrates Chemistry (from Egyptian kēme (chem), meaning earth[1]) is the science concerned with the composition, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the... Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with the application of physical science (e. ... Engineering is the design, analysis, and/or construction of works for practical purposes. ... Six F-16 Fighting Falcons with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team fly in delta formation in front of the Empire State Building. ... Applied mathematics is a branch of mathematics that concerns itself with the mathematical techniques typically used in the application of mathematical knowledge to other domains. ... Mechanics (Greek ) is the branch of physics concerned with the behaviour of physical bodies when subjected to forces or displacements, and the subsequent effect of the bodies on their environment. ... Cutout of the ITER project Applied physics is physics that is intended for a particular technological or practical use, as for example in engineering, as opposed to basic research. ... Biological engineering (also biosystems engineering and bioengineering) is a broad-based engineering discipline that deals with bio-molecular and molecular processes, product design, sustainability and analysis of biological systems. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Computer science, or computing science, is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their implementation and application in computer systems. ... Electrical Engineers design power systems… … and complex electronic circuits. ... The Materials Science Tetrahedron, which often also includes Characterization at the center Materials science or Materials Engineering is an interdisciplinary field involving the properties of matter and its applications to various areas of science and engineering. ... Mechanical engineering is an engineering discipline that involves the application of principles of physics for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Planetary science, also known as planetology or planetary astronomy, is the science of planets, or planetary systems, and the solar system. ... Broadly defined, geobiology is an interdisciplinary field of scientific research that explores interactions between the biosphere and lithosphere or atmosphere. ... The field of geochemistry involves study of the chemical composition of the Earth and other planets, chemical processes and reactions that govern the composition of rocks and soils, and the cycles of matter and energy that transport the Earths chemical components in time and space, and their interaction with... ‹ The template below has been proposed for deletion. ... Planetary science, also known as planetology or planetary astronomy, is the science of planets, or planetary systems, and the solar system. ... The humanities are those academic disciplines which study the human condition using methods that are largely analytic, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural and social sciences. ... The social sciences are a group of academic disciplines that study human aspects of the world. ... The title page to The Historians History of the World. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The history and philosophy of science (HPS) is an academic discipline that encompasses the philosophy of science and the history of science. ... Face-to-face trading interactions on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor. ... It has been suggested that Management system be merged into this article or section. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Euclid, Greek mathematician, 3rd century BC, as imagined by by Raphael in this detail from The School of Athens. ... A giant Hubble mosaic of the Crab Nebula, a supernova remnant Astronomy (also frequently referred to as astrophysics) is the scientific study of celestial objects (such as stars, planets, comets, and galaxies) and phenomena that originate outside the Earths atmosphere (such as the cosmic background radiation). ...

Athletics

Caltech has athletic teams in baseball, men's & women's basketball, cross country, fencing, men's soccer, swimming & diving, men's & women's tennis, track & field, women's volleyball, and men's & women's water polo.^[9] Caltech's nickname is the Beavers, and they all play in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, which Caltech co-founded in 1915.^[10] The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) is a College Athletic Conference that operates in the NCAAs Division III. It consists of eleven small private schools which are located in Southern California and organized into eight athletic programs. ...

On January 6, 2007, the Beavers' men's basketball team snapped a 207-game losing streak to Division III schools, beating Bard College 81-52. It was their first Division III victory since 1996. They still carry a 245-game losing streak into conference play.^[11][12] is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... For other meanings of the word Bard, see Bard (disambiguation). ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) is a College Athletic Conference that operates in the NCAAs Division III. It consists of eleven small private schools which are located in Southern California and organized into eight athletic programs. ...

On January 13, 2007, the Caltech women's basketball team snapped a 50-game losing streak, defeating the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens 55-53. The women's program, which entered the SCIAC in 2002, garnered their first conference win. On the bench as honorary coach for the evening was Dr. Robert Grubbs, 2005 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry.^[13] The team went on to beat Whittier College on February 10th, for its second SCIAC win, and placed its first member on the All Conference team.^[14] The 2006-2007 season is the most successful season in the history of the program. January 13 is the 13th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) is a College Athletic Conference that operates in the NCAAs Division III. It consists of eleven small private schools which are located in Southern California and organized into eight athletic programs. ... Robert Howard Grubbs (b. ...

In early 2007, the women's table tennis team (a club team) competed in nationals. The women's ultimate frisbee club team, known as "Snatch", has also been very successful in recent years, ranking 44 of over 200 college teams in the Ultimate Player's Association.^[15]

Undergraduate program

Caltech is on the quarter system, meaning that students have one quarter before winter break and two quarters after winter break; since there is no summer quarter, Caltech quarters are usually called "terms". Because of its schedule, Caltech's school year starts relatively late, in late September, and ends in early June rather than May as at the more common semester-system colleges. Also, Caltech is unusual in that students normally take five classes every term rather than four, as at most colleges. Instead of majors, Caltech has "options", and until 2006 offered only one minor: in Control and Dynamical Systems (CDS). During the spring term of 2006 the Humanities and Social Sciences division announced its plans to introduce four more minors in English, History, Philosophy and HPS (History and Philosophy of Science). Approximately 10% of students double-major. This is achievable since the humanities and social sciences majors have been designed to be done in conjunction with a science major. Although choosing two options in the same division is technically discouraged, it is still possible. An academic term is a division of an academic year, the time during which a school, college or university holds classes. ...

For the core curriculum, students are required to take five terms of math, including differential equations and probability and statistics, five terms of physics including quantum mechanics, special relativity, and statistical mechanics, two terms of chemistry, and a term of biology, as well as two terms of laboratory classes. The Core Curriculum was originally developed as the main curriculum used by Columbia Universitys Columbia College. ... In mathematics, a differential equation is an equation in which the derivatives of a function appear as variables. ... Probability is the likelihood that something is the case or will happen. ... A graph of a normal bell curve showing statistics used in educational assessment and comparing various grading methods. ... Fig. ... The special theory of relativity was proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein in his article On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies. Some three centuries earlier, Galileos principle of relativity had stated that all uniform motion was relative, and that there was no absolute and well-defined state of rest... Statistical mechanics is the application of probability theory, which includes mathematical tools for dealing with large populations, to the field of mechanics, which is concerned with the motion of particles or objects when subjected to a force. ...

Few students fail classes or fail out of the school as a whole. This is due to several cushions that help students survive. First of all, the first two terms of freshman year are on a pass/fail grading scheme, easing the transition to college and reducing academic stress. During the second term, "shadow grades" are given to help students gauge their own progress; during the first term, there are no grades at all. Second, there is little competition; collaboration on homework is encouraged (and often necessary for success) in almost every class. This allows even students who are not doing as well as others to learn the material and not get behind in their studies. Homework, short for homework assignment, refers to tasks assigned to students by their teachers to be completed mostly outside of class, and derives its name from the fact that most students do most of such work at home. ...

Caltech has a relatively low four-year graduation rate, compared to most leading US universities^{[citation needed]}. This rate is currently about 80%,^[16] despite the fact that entering students have consistently higher average test scores (on the SAT 1 and 2) than any other university or college, as indicated by the major college rankings.^{[citation needed]} On the other hand, almost all students major in science or engineering, fields that traditionally suffer low graduation rates. In any case, the situation has improved greatly over the last few decades; approximately 90% of entering students graduate in six years or less, compared to a substantially smaller fraction in the 1960s and 70s^{[citation needed]}. For other uses, see SAT (disambiguation). ... In higher education, college and university rankings are listings of universities and liberal arts colleges in an order determined by any combination of factors. ...

Undergraduates at Caltech are also encouraged to participate in research. About half of students do research through the annual Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) program at least once during their stay, and many continue it during the school year. Students write and submit SURF proposals for research projects in collaboration with professors, and about 70% of applicants are awarded SURFs. The program is open to both Caltech and non-Caltech undergraduate students. It serves as preparation for graduate school and helps to explain why Caltech has one of the highest percentages of alumni who go on to receive a PhD of all the major universities. This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

Student life

House system

Main article: House System at Caltech

During the early 20th century, a Caltech committee visited several universities and decided to transform the undergraduate housing system from regular fraternities to a House System, similar to the residential college system at Oxford and Cambridge. Four south houses (or hovses, so named for the inscription on the gates thereof) were built: Blacker House, Dabney House, Fleming House, and Ricketts House. In the 1960s, three north houses were built: Lloyd House, Page House, and Ruddock House. During the 1990s, an additional house, Avery House, was built to accommodate those who felt the original seven houses were not suitable for them. The four south houses closed for renovation in 2005 and reopened on December 15, 2006. The House System is the basis of undergraduate student residence at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). ... In some educational systems, undergraduate education is post-secondary education up to the level of a Bachelors degree. ... The terms fraternity and sorority (from the Latin words and , meaning brother and sister respectively) may be used to describe many social and charitable organizations, for example the Lions Club, Epsilon Sigma Alpha, Rotary International, Optimist International, or the Shriners. ... The House System is a traditional feature of British schools, similar to the collegiate system of a university. ... A residential college is an organisational pattern for a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship with the overall university. ... The University of Oxford (usually abbreviated as Oxon. ... The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University), located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and has a reputation as one of the worlds most prestigious universities. ... Avery House is part of the housing system at the California Institute of Technology, housing undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and visiting guests. ...

Student life traditions

Beckman Auditorium

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Annual events

Every Halloween, Dabney House conducts the infamous "Millikan pumpkin-drop experiment" from the top of Millikan Library, the highest point on campus. According to tradition, a claim was once made that the shattering of a pumpkin frozen in liquid nitrogen and dropped from a sufficient height would produce a triboluminescent spark. This yearly event involves a crowd of observers, who try to spot the elusive spark. The title of the event is an oblique reference to the famous Millikan oil-drop experiment which measured e, the elemental unit of electrical charge. Halloween, or Halloween, is a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31, most notably by children, who, in a tradition commonly known as trick-or-treating, dress in costumes and go door-to-door to collect sweets, fruit, and other gifts. ... General Name, Symbol, Number nitrogen, N, 7 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 15, 2, p Appearance colorless gas Standard atomic weight 14. ... Triboluminescence is an optical phenomenon in which light is generated via the breaking of asymmetrical bonds in a crystal when that material is scratched, crushed, or rubbed. ... The purpose of Robert Millikan and Harvey Fletchers oil-drop experiment (1909) was to measure the electric charge of the electron. ...

On Ditch Day the seniors ditch school, leaving behind elaborately designed tasks and traps at the doors of their rooms to prevent underclassmen from entering. Over the years this has evolved to the point where many seniors spend months designing mechanical, electrical, and software obstacles to confound the underclassmen. Each group of seniors designs a "stack" to be solved by a handful of underclassmen. The faculty have been drawn into the event as well, and cancel all classes on Ditch Day so the underclassmen can participate in what has become a highlight of the academic year. This year, Ditch Day fell on May 15, 2007.

Another long-standing tradition is the playing of Wagner's ominous Ride of the Valkyries at 7:00 each morning during finals week with the largest, loudest speakers available. The playing of that piece is not allowed at any other time (except if one happens to be listening to the entire fifteen hours of The Ring Cycle), and any offender is dragged into the showers to be drenched in cold water fully dressed. The playing of the Ride is such a strong tradition that the music was used during Apollo 17 to awaken Astronaut Harrison Schmitt, a Caltech alumnus. (Unfortunately, the tradition arose at different times in different Houses, so Schmitt did not react as expected. Instead, he just became confused.) Arthur Rackhams illustration to the Ride of the Valkyries The Ride of the Valkyries (German: Walkürenritt) is the popular term for the beginning of Act III of Die Walküre by Richard Wagner. ... The Ring of the Nibelung or, in the original German, Der Ring des Nibelungen, is a series of four epic operas. ... Apollo 17 was the eleventh manned space mission in the NASA Apollo program. ... Dr. Harrison Hagan Jack Schmitt (born July 3, 1935) is a geologist, astronaut and former U.S. senator. ...

Pranks

Caltech students have been known for the many pranks (also known as RF's) they have pulled off. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... ...

The two most famous are the changing of the Hollywood Sign to read Caltech, by judiciously covering up certain parts of the letters, and the changing of the Rose Bowl scoreboard to an imaginary game where Caltech beat MIT. During the 1961 Rose Bowl Game, Caltech students altered the flip-cards that were raised by the stadium attendees to display "Caltech." This event is now referred to as the Great Rose Bowl Hoax. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Rose Bowl is a stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, California. ... The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private, coeducational research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 (New Years Day) at the stadium of the same name in Pasadena, California. ... The Great Rose Bowl Hoax The Great Rose Bowl Hoax was a 1961 prank at the Rose Bowl, an annual American college football game. ...

Recently, a group of Caltech students pulled a string of pranks during MIT's Campus Preview Weekend for admitted students. These including covering up the word Massachusetts in the "Massachusetts Institute of Technology" engraving on the main building façade with a banner so that it read "That Other Institute of Technology". A group of MIT hackers responded by altering the banner so that the inscription read "The Only Institute of Technology". Caltech students also passed out T-shirts to MIT's incoming freshman class, with MIT on the front and "... because not everyone can go to Caltech" along with an image of a palm tree on the back. Hacker, as it relates to computers, has several common meanings. ...

MIT retaliated in April 2006, when students posing as the Howe & Ser Moving Company stole the 130 year old, 1.7 ton Fleming House cannon and moved it to their campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts for their 2006 Campus Preview Weekend, repeating a similar prank performed by nearby Harvey Mudd College in 1986. (The name "Howe & Ser", if said rapidly, and if read recognizing that the & symbol is a ligature of the Latin word "et", sounds like howitzer; it could also mean "how we answer", since the latest prank was an answer to the 2005 prank on MIT.) Thirty members of Fleming House traveled to MIT and reclaimed their cannon on April 10, 2006. Harvey Mudd College is a highly selective, private college of science, engineering, and mathematics, located in Claremont, California. ... 19th century 12 pounder (5 kg) mountain howitzer displayed by the National Park Service at Fort Laramie in Wyoming, USA A howitzer is a type of artillery piece that is characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small explosive charges to propel projectiles at trajectories with...

On April 13, 2007 (Friday the 13th), a group of students from The California Tech, Caltech's campus newspaper, arrived and distributed fake copies of The Tech, MIT's campus newspaper, while prospective students were visiting for their Campus Preview Weekend. Articles included "MIT Invents the Interweb", "Architectects Deem Campus 'Unfortunate'", and "Infinite Corridor Not Actually Infinte."

In recent years, pranking has been officially encouraged by Tom Mannion, Caltech's assistant VP for campus life. "The grand old days of pranking have gone away at Caltech, and that's what we are trying to bring back," reported the Boston Globe, which noted that "security has orders not to intervene in a prank unless officers get Mannion's approval beforehand."^[17]

Caltech pranks have been documented in three Legends of Caltech books, the most recent of which was edited by alumni Autumn Looijen '99 and Mason A. Porter '98 and published in May 2007.

Honor Code

Life in the Caltech community is governed by the Honor Code, which simply states: "No member of the Caltech community shall take unfair advantage of any other member of the Caltech community." This is enforced by a Board of Control, which consists of undergraduate students,^[18] and by a similar body at the graduate level, called the Graduate Review Board.^[19] An honor code or honor system is a set of rules or principles governing a community based on a set of rules or ideals that define what constitutes honorable behavior within that community. ...

The Honor Code aims at promoting an atmosphere of respect and trust that allows Caltech students to enjoy privileges that make for a more relaxed atmosphere. For example, the Honor Code allows professors to make the majority of exams as take-home, allowing students to take them on their own schedule and in their preferred environment.

Through the late 1990s, the only exception to the Honor Code, implemented earlier in the decade in response to changes in federal regulations, concerned the sexual harassment policy. Today, there are a myriad of exceptions to the Honor Code in the form of new institute policies such as the Fire Policy, and Alcohol Policy. Though both policies are presented in the Honor Code Handbook given to new members of the Caltech Community, large portions of the undergraduate population regards them as a slight against the Honor Code and the implicit trust and respect it represents within the community.^{[citation needed]}

Presidents of Caltech

Since Throop College of Technology became Caltech in 1920, it has been led by the following individuals:

• Robert A. Millikan (1921–1945), experimental physicist, Nobel laureate in physics for 1923 (his official title was "Chairman of the Executive Council")
• Lee A. DuBridge (1946–1969), experimental physicist (first to officially hold the title of President)
• Harold Brown (1969–1977), physicist and public servant (left Caltech to serve as United States Secretary of Defense in the administration of Jimmy Carter)
• Robert F. Christy (1977–1978), astrophysicist (acting President)
• Marvin L. Goldberger (1978–1987), theoretical physicist
• Thomas E. Everhart (1987–1997), experimental physicist
• David Baltimore (1997–2006), molecular biologist, Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine for 1975
• Jean-Lou Chameau (2006–present), civil engineer and educational administrator

Robert Millikan. ... Lee Alvin DuBridge (1901 – 1994) was a U.S. educator and physicist. ... Harold Brown (born September 19, 1927), American scientist, was U.S. Secretary of Defense from 1977 to 1981 in the cabinet of President Jimmy Carter. ... The United States Secretary of Defense is the head of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), concerned with the armed services and The role of the Secretary of Defense is to be the principal defense policy advisor to the President and is responsible for the formulation of general defense... James Earl Jimmy Carter, Jr. ... Robert F. Christy is an American astrophysicist who worked on the Manhattan Project. ... Marvin Leonard Goldberger (born 22 October 1922 in Chicago, Illinois) is a physicist and former president of the California Institute of Technology. ... Thomas Eugene Everhart (born 1932) was a U.S. educator and physicist. ... David Baltimore (b. ... Jean-Lou Chameau (born 1953) is a civil engineer and provost for the Georgia Institute of Technology. ...

See also

• List of California Institute of Technology people
• List of California Institute of Technology trustees
• Einstein Papers Project

The California Institute of Technology has had numerous notable alumni and staff. ... Caltech Seal The list of California Institute of Technology trustees includes notable trustees of the California Institute of Technology. ... The Einstein Papers Project, established in 1986, is dedicated to assembling, preserving, translating and publishing papers selected from the literary estate of Albert Einstein (more than forty thousand documents) and from other collections (more than fifteen thousand Einstein-related documents). ...

Notes

1. ^ The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; other spellings such as "Cal Tech" and "CalTech" are incorrect. The Institute is also occasionally referred to as "CIT," most notably in its alma mater, but this is uncommon.
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ [2]
4. ^ [3]
5. ^ [4]
6. ^ [5]
7. ^ [6] A 2006 ranking from the THES - QS of the world’s research universities.
8. ^ [7]
9. ^ [8]
10. ^ [9]
11. ^ [10]
12. ^ [11]
13. ^ [12]
14. ^ [13]
15. ^ [14] College Women's Top UPA Rankings
16. ^ [15]
17. ^ [16]
18. ^ [17]
19. ^ [18]

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with The Times Higher Education Supplement. ...

External links

• Official site
• Legends of Caltech
• Caltech's online news site
• Caltech Alumni Association
• History of Caltech (at the official Nobel Prize website)
• Undergraduate Computer Science Laboratory
• Caltech Nobel Laureate Biographies
• Crippling Depression — a satirical comic strip serialized in California Tech, the Caltech student newspaper
• The Great Rose Bowl Hoax
• Honor Code (current version)
• Details On Ditch Day
• Ditch Days: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
• Maps and aerial photos for 34°08′19″N 118°07′32″W / 34.138577, -118.125494Coordinates: 34°08′19″N 118°07′32″W / 34.138577, -118.125494
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  • Topographic maps from TopoZone or TerraServer-USA
• List of references to Caltech in the film Real Genius